Shared values and mixed messages at the African Union summit

Despite a tendency to appoint despots to its highest office, the organisation's relevance and prominence on the international stage is growing

President of Equatorial Guinea and newly elected Chairperson of the African Union, Obiang Nguema Basongo at the close of the 16th Ordinary summit of the Africa Union in Addis Ababa. Photograph: Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images

African leaders met in Addis Ababa at the end of last month for their regular biannual summit. As the crowds gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square in an attempt to remove one of the continent's many longstanding autocrats, the prime ministers and presidents assembled in Ethiopia's capital talked about their "shared values" (the summit's theme) – among them good governance, the rule of law, democracy and human rights. But, as one senior African diplomat asked: "Whose values are they anyway?" Are they those of the young men and women demonstrating in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez and the 600 million or so Africans under the age of 24? Or those of the elderly statesmen like Teodoro Obiang, president of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, a notorious dictator who some say makes Robert Mugabe look benign, and now the newly elected chairperson of the African Union (AU).

NGOs and civil society groups across Africa are appalled that Obiang has been awarded such a high-profile position, even if it is largely ceremonial: the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Gabonese diplomat and politician Jean Ping remains the real power at the AU. They are right to be concerned; and the AU should also be worried about how this appointment will be viewed by the outside world.

To be fair, the 2011-12 chair was never going to be one of Africa's few, but increasing, democratic stars. The position rotates annually on a strict geographical basis, and this year was the turn of central Africa. The regional member states collectively choose a candidate from among themselves – and they chose, unanimously, Equatorial Guinea. In the past, unpopular candidates have met resistance to their chairmanship. For example, in January 2009, the start of the summit was delayed as delegates from eastern and southern Africa worked hard to find an alternative to replace the north's selection, Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. But the appointment of Obiang, whose country's oil wealth means that he can afford to pay his AU dues and is a successful lobbyist, went through without a hitch.

Despite a tendency to appoint despots to its highest office, the AU's relevance and prominence on the international stage is growing. The foreign ministers of India, Japan, Denmark and Australia addressed the summit, as did the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. Ban, who is a regular attendee, stayed longer than normal and was more closely involved with the proceedings, co-chairing high-level meetings on Ivory Coast, Sudan and Somalia.

Regarding Sudan, the summit congratulated the people and government on the success of the recent referendum on self-determination for the south. As a reward for his apparent "personal and unwavering commitment to sustaining peace", the AU renewed its call for the suspension of international criminal court (ICC) proceedings against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and asked for the lifting of sanctions again Khartoum and the comprehensive relief of its external debt. In a separate decision, the AU also backed Kenya's appeal to defer the charges brought by the ICC against six high-ranking government officials in relation to the post-election violence in 2008. How much support these measures will receive from the wider international community remains to be seen.

Ivory Coast was perhaps the summit's most contentious issue. Despite the intensive lobbying of supporters of Laurent Gbabgo, the loser of last November's presidential elections, the AU stuck firm to its decision to back the presidency of his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognised as the winner. There was, however, a row back on the question of the use of force which, while not totally rejected as a course of action, will only be resorted to when all other possibilities have been exhausted. In order to facilitate negotiations between the two parties, the AU has established a high-level panel of presidents made up of a representatives from each of the five regions. If the AU can hold its line and prevent Gbagbo from usurping power, it may be able to convince sceptics that its shared values really are shared and valued.